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The Gulf Expat

How long is probation in the UAE?

Up to 6 months from your first day of work (Art. 9). Your employer can put you on probation only once, and it counts as service.

Checked 21 October 2026

The 6 months is a ceiling, not a fixed length. Your contract sets the actual period, so read it before you sign.

Get your datesFor when this job ends: every deadline as a date.

What to do now

  1. Find the probation length in your offer and check it is no more than 6 months.
  2. Note the date your probation ends in your calendar.
  3. If you plan to move or leave during probation, give written notice of the right length and keep a copy.
  4. When a job ends, build your leaving plan for the dates that follow.

What to ask HR

  1. On what date does my probation end?
  2. Is the notice for ending probation written in my contract?
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If your employer ends the job in probation

Your employer must tell you in writing at least 14 days before the end date it gives.

If it does not, it owes you the wage for those 14 days, or for the part it skipped.

If you move to another UAE employer

Give your employer at least 1 month's written notice.

Your new employer then pays your old employer's costs of recruiting you, unless they agree otherwise.

If you leave the UAE

Give at least 14 days' written notice.

If you come back within 3 months and get a new work permit, your new employer pays your old employer's recruitment costs.

If you leave the UAE without giving that notice, you cannot get a work permit for 1 year from the day you left.

If either side skips the notice

The side that skips it pays the other the wage for the notice period, or for what is left of it.

How probation counts later

  • Probation counts within your term of service.
  • Gratuity is paid once you complete 1 year of continuous service, probation included (Arts. 9 and 51).
  • After probation, your notice period is the one in your contract, between 30 and 90 days (Art. 43).

Free zones

The DIFC and ADGM have their own employment laws. These rules are for jobs under the UAE Labour Law.

Before you sign

  • Check the probation length is written in your offer and is 6 months or less.
  • Check the notice period that applies after probation, between 30 and 90 days.
  • Check your basic pay on its own, because your gratuity is worked out on it.
  • If you might change jobs in your first months, plan for the 1-month notice rule.